2022 NERPM Initial Fears and Preparations

We are a little less than 3 weeks away from the 2022 New England/Northeast Railroad Prototype Modelers meet and after some serious debating I have decided to sign up to attend. 

As stated many times before here, I personally don't consider myself a "Prototype modeler" compared to others. I am more of the mind set of If I'm happy with the result, then I'm not going to worry too much what others think. However, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that its reassuring that others find my work interesting and detailed as well. Some can call this ego boosting, but to me it means that the level of detail I hold my models to is at least on a slightly higher level then I originally my have thought. Which brings up the reason why I was in such a debate with myself about attending and showcasing some of my models. 

The fear of being overshadowed or worse, being belittled for a lack or detail was daunting. Now I know that this would not be the case but still weather it was fear of being subpar or looking like a novice among other modelers was a real concern. 

What really helped push me to eventually sign up was mainly the support from a few friends during a few model railroad operating sessions.  The comments and encouraging words really helped calm my nerves and helped me build more confidence in my abilities as a modeler. Plus, Its ok for different people to have opinions on what we consider to be "good" or, heck, even what is considered "prototype modeling" in this hobby. But enough about past fears lets move onto more exciting topics; What will I be brining to the show!?!?!

Now its no secret that I have been posting very little in means of both the Blog and FB page. This is unfortunately due partially because of some medical things combines with daily life tasks that always seem to get in the way of playing with trains. However, when I have gotten some free time to model it has been mainly focused on some very exciting 3D modeling/printing projects. Some items I cant go into great detail yet, but can very soon!!!(You might even get a sneak peak if you happen to find me at the show …..hint....hint😁)

But while I wait for some of those items to print (averaging 6+ hour per part), I have been brainstorming what Id like to display at the show. One of the first items on my list was my model of VRR 3025. Almost becoming my poster model on the blog, it was a easy choice. The issue was that it has encountered some issues during the past few months. Nothing mechanical, but the cab and tender have had some parts break off and with the nature of the 3D printer parts it was better to reprint them and start fresh then attempt to repair any damage.  

The next item was VRR 0901. My second "masterpiece" has been sitting on the workbench for over a year in primer, waiting for me to hit it with a few coats of NH warm orange and Hunter Green. Still not sure if I will have it fully painted before the show but rest assured it will be on display. 

Next items on the list were actually featured in last weeks "Wordless Wednesday". Attached to the blue painters tape are a set of my NH/VRR trackside posts. They have been seen in their painted form on friends layouts in he past but I personally never made a set my own. So these, the Mile Markers and 1920s era R.R. Crossing Signs will be on display.  To the right is something I'm not 100% sold on but still may bring it for fun. These are the original 4 person railbikes found at the VRR. These were made quickly last summer after a weekend full of operating the 1:1 scale counterparts. They don't roll well so they may become a stationary piece used for display and not be operational as originally designed.

Finally the last major item in last weeks post is my first model of a HO scale tank engine and knowing my past it oh course had to be a certain blue tank engine. So why am I bringing this model, especially to a show designed around showcasing models of "Real" railroad equipment. Simple this model is based on a actual prototype, former Brooklyn East District Terminal #15, more commonly known today as Strasburg's live steam replica of Thomas. 

    I haven't talked about this model in great detail yet; but for some background, it will be riding on a Bachmann 0-6-0 saddle tank switcher body. I swear its almost, if not, the same basis as the original #15 locomotive. Thomas and the trackside items are currently in the spray booth waiting for me to finish mixing the paint but this wraps up the core items I'm planning on bringing to the show. I may add more depending on how much free time I have.....which will be hard because Thomas and Percy will be visiting Essex for the next 2 weekends. Which means I'll be down at the Valley more often. 

Regardless I'll end this post with a few questions to you, the reader. Is there anything else I should bring? (finished or in progress) 

Is there anything from my past posts or Shapeways store you would like to see in person?  Let me know and I might be able to get some ready in time!! If I don't follow up before then, I hope to see some of you at the show and look on FB for more update photos as we get closer to the event.

Monday Modeling Update - Slight Buyers Remorse - March 14th, 2022

 Over the last few months there has been a lot going on in and out of the workshop. There have been some field trips to fellow model railroaders, Bob Murphy, Chris Adams and Bill Schneider home layouts for some amazing operating sessions. Some 3D modeling projects, some of which were seen on my Facebook page, some not shown yet!

However by far the most time consuming task taking most of my time recently is the result of a very impulsive eBay win. 


The listing was for 6 HO scale locomotives, 4 of them Bachmann Spectrum models. Now say what you will about Bachmann Engines. I have always been a fan of the company since first starting in the hobby. To me they were a very good middle of the road manufacture that had very decent steam locomotives for under $300 dollars.  Making them the perfect gateway locomotives for me into DCC and kit bashing. 

I won the bit for around $200 at the end of the day which was a bargain in my eyes. Especially since the 4 Bachmann engines would be roughly $700-$800 new. Now I knew the seller stated that the models were in need of repair and most if not all of the decoders were removed. Not the end of the world since 2 of the engines might be cannibalized for future projects. 

However when they arrived it became clear that the locos were in much rougher condition. Not only were the decoders removed but most to all of the wiring was as well. Plugs were missing and/or destroyed.  So started my journey of taking each one completely apart and basically rewiring all back to DC operations. Oh did I mention that all of the headlights were burnt out LEDs..........................

Pushing the Limits of 3D Printing.

Long time no post.  Hopfully this is the start of more posts and updates as some personal things get wrapped up and there is more time for model railroading. Im still working on my Valley History Project but It was nice to be able to break up the work by having different things to focus on. 

The latest thing that has grabbed my attention is another request from fellow modelers and the project will and still is pushing the limits of my 3D Printer.

The request came in a few weeks ago. Looking for a replacement part for a Atlas S-1 diesel locomotive. Specifically for the ones used on the New Haven (For the DEY-3).

Hard to see but the grill in question is located under that metal walkway and above a large fan unit.  The Atlas models come with a metal grid, almost fence like, detail piece to simulate the grill. On the NH these grills were actually a series of shutters, very similar to the one found on the side of the locomotive's hoods.

The bad news for the project was that there was little to no reference photos to help base a model after. The good news is that we had a small team working together to discuss and develop the model based on small bits of information we all had/could find.  As one put it " it took a village" to design a part no bigger than 13mm square.

By far the best tool we had to design this model was the locomotive itself. This allowed us to get the base outer dimensions which is arguably the most important needed to start designing. The other tools were reference photos and a bit of guess and checking. From photos I was able to make a guess that there were about 22 shutters in total. 

Using this I started to create my first model using 0.015 thick fins and reducing the shutter count to 20 in an attempt to have prototypical gaps between fins. They were also angled at about 45 degrees to simulate that the fan is running but not at full throttle.

The 2 grills on the right were the first print attempts and while looked nice and prototypical count wise, were too small for my printer to actually provide gaps in-between them. Of course we could have planted a flag and called it done, but that urge to find a way to have both elements pushed me further. Which in tern lead the the examples on the left. Same size shutters but reduced to only 16 count.This allowed the gaps to be viable but looked more like a storm drain rather than a series of shutters. 

 

Here are the same two with a quick black wash and placed on the actual model. Notice how much nicer the one on the right looks compared the left. However what was found next really pushed me to create a happier mix of the two.

Above is a picture of an actual grill we are trying to create. This photo helped answer so many unknowns that it pushed me to create one more version (V5.0 by this point). 

Which brings the story to the present. Above is the latest test prints and as you can see they are closer together and have better gaps. The lower right one had some errors but one can argue that its seen a bit of weathering like the prototypes. Im sure we are not complete with these grills so stay tooned for more updates and future project.!

HO scale 3025 Build Process

    Hello everyone, First I must apologize for the lack of posting here. As I have stated before I have been working primarily on a history project on the various types of equipment found on the Valley Railroad. What started as a simple series of articles has, for the better, turned into a full fledge book. I will go into more details about this at a later time but please now that more Model trains and 3d modeling will be coming in the near future. But as for today I thought it was finally time to update you all on my HO scale Valley 3025 project.

    I’ve mentioned before that this was my first true scratch building and semi rivet counter project. There are so many aspects of the hobby that I learned from this and am very happy with the outcome, but I know there is always room for improvement.

    As stated before, I started with a stock Bachmann 2-8-2 SY class Mikado, Susquehanna No. 142, to be exact. This is the best place to start if you would like to follow my process as about 60% of the work has been done by Bachmann. However, the biggest issue is what the other 40% entails. When Bachmann created their SY model they used the Chinese locomotives as the prototypes. Meaning that they are in their original configurations with the engineer on the left and firemen on the right; opposite what is standard here in the United States. This would also include their model of No. 142 as it is a glorified repaint of the base model for the American markets. The issue with this is that the actual 142 and 3025 were modified at Tangshan to be right hand drive before coming state side. Meaning that certain appliances and controls on the model are on the wrong side!!! So, in order to match the porotype 3025 I would need to revers the details, a task easier said than done.

     First step disassemble the model and start to remove details.

This included the reverser, air pumps, automatic lubricator, what I believe is the throttle piping and headlight. (I can be 100 % wrong on these items names) Be careful to not loose screws and parts during this process and hopefully you don’t have the same issue I did and find that screws are missing from your model you bought as “Used but never opened”. eBay can be cruel sometimes.

Here is a comparison of what I removed from each side of the boiler compared to a stock 142.

The next step was to make major modifications to the running board as the air pumps pass through them. The issue here is that the running board is cast metal piece that can be very fragile. I accidentally bend mine during the cutting process and needed to straighten it out before continuing. Two cuts are needed here one is simple as it cutting off the slim section of running board for the stock pumps. The harder side is cutting a duplicate square cut out to match the other sides dimensions. These cuts were done with a razer saw, hobby knife and pliers.  After light sanding it was a simple matter of gluing them onto the opposite sides. Where there were gaps, I used strips of styrene 0.040. The annoying part here was that the running board has built in diamond plate some of which was sanded off curing the cutting. I later replaced this with a diamond plate 3d decal I found on eBay. More of this is detailed in my previous post.

With the major cutting done I moved on to body filling and final sanding. For this I used Tamiya Surface putty. This helped fill in small gaps and divest where parts were removed. These areas were sanded using varying degrees of fine sanding sticks I got from Hobby Lobby for cheap.

Following this I placed all of the metal components, (Frame, Wheels, Running Board, etc.) into a plastic tub filled with Super Clean Degreaser. I know this may seem odd but it was suggested online by a fellow modeler and tested it on a Tyco model to great effect. While these parts were soaking over night, I moved onto 3d modeling.

In addition to the new reverser listed in my previous post I also updated my 3D models of 3025’s cab and tender. Both have been available on my shapeways store for a few years now and are based on the original drawings used to create the actual items. The newer versions (Which will be uploaded soon) are more detailed and better fit the Bachmann model. (I guess there is a slight difference in sizes between Bachmann’s model and the real engines dimensions. Benefit of being able to measure the real engine for reference.)

The newest model to be created was the entire smokebox and headlight. I knew I as going to have to design a NH style headlight to fit the model but didn’t expect to remodel the entire smokebox as well. The short answer is that the stock smokebox was just too different that I needed to create it to satisfy my need to make it look accurate. (The smoke box will be available online as well soon.

While the parts were printing, I moved back to the parts soaking. 24 hours later the paint was peeling off, remaining paint was gently removed with a toothbrush. (Remember to wear appropriate safety equipment.)

With the old paint removed and the 3d parts cured it was time for primer and test fitting. I used Tamiya fine spray primer and quickly assembled the major parts. 3025 was looking more and more like its prototype.

This was soon followed with a coat of Tru-Color Engine Black. And graphite for the smoke box.

With the engine shaping up it was time to focus on the tender. The process was very similar to the cab and smokebox. Design, print, primer and paint. Hardest part was fishing the new LED headlight through the body and gluing the light in place. The tender body snaps on and off with built in clips so its very easy to access the electronics inside.

The rest is simple reassembly, super detail items and decals. All which can be seen in my Facebook group photos.  There is still some detail work to complete and replacement screws to find but overall, it has been a really enjoyable project and can wait to bring it to a few friend’s layouts as a special “guest power” maybe once I’m really happy with it I will bring it down to the Valley to pose with its1:1 scale inspiration.

Swapping sides - Working on my HO scale 3025

Well this weekend would have been spent up at the Big "E" fair grounds exploring the four buildings packed full with all things trains and model railroading. But like with most thing during this pandemic its was shelved for another time. It was not all for loss though as there was over 12+ hours of live stream presentations, clinics, and product announcements at the Virtual Amherst Railroad Hobby Show. 

It was the perfect thing to put on in the background as I spent most of the weekend working on model trains things. I spent most of Saturday 3D modeling parts for my HO scale Walt Disney World Engines, which you can see the results of on my Facebook group.  But the biggest find of the weekend was part of my HO scale 3025 model!!!

I'm a bit ashamed to admit this but it was ever since the move to the new house I have not fully unpacked all of my model train things. While looking for items for the WDWRR project i found a small green box that happened to have about 80% of my 3025 models.  It gave me such a rush to find these items that I put the Disney trains aside and took out the parts of  to see what I had and what the next steps were.

Now the Bachmann SY models are very accurate to the real life locomotives which is a blessing as it means many if not all of the major details were included in the base model. Accurate as the model is there is one major issue when it comes to converting the model into 3025.  

The SY locomotives were created by the Tangshan Locomotive works in Tangshan, China. Chinese railways are "left-hand" drive, meaning that the engineer sits on the left of the cab and the fireman on the right. This is opposite of what is common practice here in the USA. This means that components of the engine that drive the locomotive, like the reverser, are alongside the left side of the boiler. The Bachmann model depicts this perfectly. So what my issue? 3025 and its predecessor 1647 were modified to be "right-hand" drive!!!!!!

So what does this mean for my model? I have to carefully cut off and remove many of the modeled in and separately applied details and reattach them to the opposite side of the model. A simple task on paper but increasingly harder in practice. 

In the following pictures you can see my 3025 boiler compared to a stock Bachmann SY to show what I removed.

Nothing terrible yet until you examine the parts I cut off. Lets take the reverser for example. (please forgive me if this is not the actual name of the part)  the way the model is designed it is hollow on the back side that would normally face the engine. Meaning I can simply spin the part 360 degrees and re-glue it as I had hoped to do. So now I have a part that is not longer usable and now replacement to fit on the other side. What to do? Well take measurements of the existing part and start to 3D model my own part. It was during this time I took the liberty to "upgrade" the part as well. The Bachmann version used basic shapes and mine was a little more.....rivet counter level........

 No telling if this will print the way I want but that's a story for another time.

My next item to relocate what the air pumps. ( Again please don't be too critical if i got he names wrong) This would fit into a gap in the running board on the right or East side of the boiler. In order to move the pumps to the West side a new gap would need to be cut out. This was the job for the hand held razer saw. 

Carefully I made my cuts for the new gap as well as cutting out the existing running board strip. 

My plan was to use the off-cuts on the opposite sides to fill gaps, basically swapping sides. and after some filling and a bit of 0.04 styrene sheets the new running board was super glued together.

And here is where I stopped for the night. Not the most things done off the list but a good start on some of the trickiest parts. I have learned that Model Railroad projects take time and should not be rushed. It one of the main reasons why I'm redoing my WDWRR models. Slow and steady will win the race on this one and I hope that it ends up being well worth it in the end. This is one of the first times in the new house I have sat down and worked on a model in a proper workshop and it felt amazing. Hopefully during this pandemic and the winter months I can get more work done on the trains. But only time will tell, but for now I need to prepare for the expected 16" of snow we are getting tonight. 

I hope you enjoy reading this update and I hope you all are staying safe and healthy, 

Rivet counting - Literally

Last week on my Facebook page I announced my next 3D modeling project, a HO scale model of the Valley's 500 series cars. These are also known as the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Boonton cars. Commuter cars with a feature of railroading past. Open vestibules but with all steel construction.

These cars were build in 1914-1915 era when the railroads were switching from wooden to all steel construction methods. It was an interesting era where design elements and looks from the past still carried over to the new steel bodies, like the open vestibules. This new type of construction also let to new methods of construction.  For these cars this meant that all of the steel panels were riveted to everything. 

These cars would make a rivet counter go mad!!! There are so many just along the sides of the cars for the body alone, forget about the windows and all of there different panels and sashes. 

Now I don't consider myself a "Rivet counter" when speaking about Model Railroading. I have cut some corners on projects because I am happy with the way it looks or to help me getting frustrated that I don't pull my hair out. 

Before I started on these cars I did not think about how many individual rivets I would need to model and yes the way I build the model I add ever one by hand. There is over 1200 on just one side of the car alone. 

This may take a bit longer than I originally thought. Oh well, the light at the end of the tunnel is that I only need to finish one side before I use copy and paste for the other and that the future 600 cars use the same sides as a base.............................Wish me luck!!!

All it needs is a fresh coat - Working on the Basement Workshop

 

It is not uncommon for model railroaders to call their basements a home away from home. Let’s face it most layouts and workshops are found in a basement. Prior to moving into our new house I would have agreed with this statement. I had a small area at my parent’s house that I set up as a working space. In fact half of my stuff is still there. This is because I have not been able to fully set up my new workshop at the new house. I have shown pictures of my current set up in my home office where I can do some 3D modeling, but I would like to be able to set up a proper workshop down in the basement.  I have not done this yet because of one important issue, Water.  

My house is over 100 years old and I had a bit of an issue of water leaking through the stone/brick walls during heavy rain.  Not large amount that could cause damage, but enough to be annoying and ruin anything sitting in its way.   I didn’t have the funds at the moment to install a pump or hire someone to completely refinish the basement, so I looked into ways I could solve the problem myself. I am an engineer after all. I found that the main source of the problem was the stone stairs in the hatchway from the backyard. I needed to try to seal the steps so water would not get in.

I came across this product; Behr Dry Plus waterproofing paint. It claimed that it would hold up to 12 PSI of ground water with only two coats of paint. Sounded too good to be true but I figured I give it a shot.  

I bought a gallon of it at Home Depot and it was just enough for me to apply 2.5 coats on the stairs and retaining walls In the hatchway. I went a little overkill because I wanted to make sure the product would cover every nook and cranny. So what were the results? After 3 months of on and off rain, not a drop from the stairs!!!

I was impressed and sold on the product, but not the color. Dull Grey was not my first choice but it’s what’s on the shelf in the store. I never thought to look online and see that you can buy different colors in 5 gallon buckets. My plan was to buy a 5 gallon bucket, follow the instruction and paint as much of the walls as I could; starting with walls that have been affected by the water in the past.

What were the results this time? 

I got 3 of 4 walls completed with two coats each. Covers very nice and only took 2 weekends of my time to finish. I chose a light blue color for the walls this time for two reasons. I thought it would help brighten up the basement. (it didn’t really) and because it was a good base for a sky on a model railroad if I ever build a module In the basement.

The last step was the floor. During my investigation and trial and error finding the source of the water; I ruled out that it was seeping up through the floor. So I just wanted to find something to clean up the floor and cover some of the water stains in low points.  I’ll be honest I was not looking for something in particular and didn’t want to spend a lot of money on any fancy colors.

I started to look at my local Home Depot and Lowes for their “oops” paint or normally called mis-tinted paint. This is normally painted that has been rejected or returned due to it not matching the color selected and is heavily marked down.  

At Lowes I found 2 gallons of a dark blue-green color for $9 a gallon. I asked the store associated to shake the paint for me to see the true mixed color. While the paint mixed we talked a bit about what it was for.  He suggested something else that might be more helpful. Behind the counter there was a 5 gallon bucket of off white “oops” paint looking for a home.  It was only $30 for 5 gallons, I couldn’t pass this up.

And this is where I am as of this weekend, waiting for the first half of the basement floor to dry with its second coat of paint.  Did I go overboard a bit, maybe, but will I have a clean, dry workshop in the near future? Yes and to me that is defiantly worth the time and money spent.  But for now I need to get back to work. There is still another half of the floor to paint!!!